During efforts to reduce further the fuel consumption and the emissions of pollutants of modern internal combustion engines, internal combustion engines with a variable valve train are being increasingly used for performing the variable control of the inlet valves and/or outlet valves. In this context, internal combustion engines with variable valve stroke control and/or variable control of the valve opening times prove particularly efficient since they can be operated virtually without throttling (throttle valve fully opened) in the lower and medium load ranges. In this context, the load control is carried out exclusively by means of the stroke and/or the opening times of the inlet valves. In this operating range without throttling, the charge cycle losses are low, which results in reduced consumption. However, fabrication-related tolerances of the valve train and of the valves give rise to faults during the charging of the cylinders. In particular in the lower load range and in the idling mode, where the strokes and/or the opening times of the inlet valves are very small in the non-throttled operating mode, even small faults during the charging of the cylinders can be manifest as perceptible differences in torque, which restricts the driving comfort. These differences in torque, which can occur not only between different internal combustion engines but also between the cylinders of the same internal combustion engine, give rise in the worst case to perceptible unsmooth running in the lower load range or in the idling mode and therefore restrict the driving comfort.